Decoy
by XxWolfyXGirlxX
Summary: At 14, twins, Blaze and Dawn Shadow were taken away from each other. Stolen from their own house. Two years later they are thrown into the Hunger Games, but not before Blaze developed feelings for a district two boy. Cato/O.C.
1. Preface

Sometimes it takes a while to wrap your head around what's happening, while it's happening. Well, it's been two years; they still have no clue what happened.

The grass was wet against their feet as they jogged to the house, weapons in hand, to escape the rain. 14, with little innocents, the twins had just finished their training session for the day and decided it was time to treat themselves to a game of target practice. The day had been long and restless, so taking this time to themselves was bliss.

Standing on the porch, covered from the rain, both stretched their arrows back as far as they could, and aimed at the center of the target that was set up at the other end of the yard. The arrow was released just as fast as it entered the bow and slammed straight into the center of the target. Satisfied with their aim they both smiled and reloaded their bows.

Training sessions for the two could last anywhere from 5 to 6 hours depending on whether Leland, their wonderful father, had a good or bad day. Their training consisted of, running, dodging, archery, knife throwing, and on lighter days, identifying plants. Lets say these twins were the two hardest worked teenagers in district 5. Though their district was power, they practiced everything but electrical appliances and stuck to their physical strength and battle strategy. Leland had trained the girls for the Hunger Games their whole life, though no one knew if either of them would be put into the Games.

Though they were twins they didn't look anything alike. Dawn, the softer and more gentle out of the twins, had long curly sandy brown hair that reached the middle of her back and Sapphire blue eyes, with smooth butter skin. She stood at a reasonable 5"5' and weighed 130 pounds. Blaze, the more mischievous out of the two, had soft apricot skin, striking silver eyes, and long wavy smoky black hair. She stood at 5"3' and weighed a nice 120 pounds.

Once their sheath was empty both girls turned to walk inside the house. That's when everything changed.

The peacekeepers were everywhere they turned, left and right, there was no way out. Leland and Twiddle stood and watched as their children were dragged down the porch and out into the rain.

"No!" Both twins yelled and held onto each others hands. The peacekeepers whipped and smacked and beat their hands to make them let go but nothing was working. With all their strength they ripped the twins' hands apart and carried the kicking and screaming girls away.


	2. District Two Girl

At 16 Blaze had been through enough for a lifetime, constantly reminding herself of who she was. Now she was a District Two girl, and she lived with a roommate - I guess you could call him - in a pretty decent apartment building. Cato, wasn't a bad guy but he also wasn't the kind you'd want to be your best friend either, - unless of course you were her - for instance, he had anger management issues, and bipolar disorder. Sometimes she swore he was on steroids or something.

Living in District Two wasn't so bad anymore since she got a job working in the square in town at the food market; she got discounted on food. Cato brought home fresh game every once and a while so that was a plus.

Ever since she was taken away from District Five, she still kept up her training daily and with a little help from Cato he was just like Leland; kicking her butt if she had done something wrong. Arrows and knife throwing were still her priorities in training and Cato didn't need to be there while she did those; she never missed.

District Two was, no doubt, more glam and socially equipped, than District Five. In Five it was all about power, though Leland had made it about weapons for her and her sister. Two had more people from the Capitol visit than any other District besides One. Maybe because they were Career districts? Or maybe to visit Victors Village, after all they had made friends from being in the Capitol so dam much. All she knew was that Two looked like a rainbow with all those colorful Capitol outfits prancing around.

The people in Two were, for the most part, decent and nice but every once and a while you'd run into an asshole. Blaze had made a few friends over the past two years, but only a few did she ever keep in touch with for a long period of time. Like her friend Magnolia, who she grew a custom to calling Maggie. Or like her friend Pilot, who she had met at the bakery just down the street when she had went to pick up muffins for dessert after hers and Cato's Sunday dinner. Though Pilot and Maggie were good friends she'd learned the hard way in her past not to let people get to close to her.

...***...

It was late evening, Blaze was cross-legged in the corner of the couch with fresh hot herbal tea in her hands and a blanket draped over her lap. She watched through the third story window of the apartment building out at Cato while he cut the air with his sword and than threw it at a target drawn on the tree. It landed perfectly in the bullseye. She wondered if she was the only one watching him swing the sword around as if something worth killing was there in front of him. He was pushing himself too hard the past few months, because the reaping was just around the corner now. Next Friday someone they probably knew was going to get their name drawn from that stupid jar, and their life would be under the Capitol's control, as if it wasn't already.

He has no shoes on. He said 'Shoes just slow you down, I run faster without them'. This made her laugh at the time, she had no idea he was being serious. He had no shirt on, was wearing sport shorts, a leather glove on the hand he held the sword in, and his hair was wet with sweat. There was no denying that he was an attractive guy, but Blaze had barely even noticed. With the reaping on her mind it was hard for her to notice anything.

All the talk the past few days has been about the reaping and who was going to get picked. Hell people were already making bets and the tributes weren't even picked yet! Blaze had just kept to herself and though she had convinced everyone that she wasn't worried about it she secretly was having mental hear attacks and nightmares. The only person who knew about how she really felt was Cato; he had woken her up from many of her nightmares. It doesn't matter how fearless you act, everyone was scared of the reapings.

Blaze sighed and drank the last bit of her tea and draped the blanket over the back of the couch. She stood up and patted across the wooden floor and put her mug in the sink before taking Cato's wallet off the counter and putting it in her back pocket. He had left it there and asked her if when she was ready if she could go and get soup, crackers, cheese, and any fresh meat that she could cook for dinner that night before it got dark outside.

Blaze grabbed her house key and started toward the square in the middle of town. Walking there was never fun, usually Cato would be the one to walk there but Blaze insisted this time. Bums lined the edges of the street begging for a quarter or even a nickle but no one really had anything to spare with the Capitol's reign. There was the occasional bum that would run up to you and try and rob you or shake you until you gave, but Blaze never dealt with it; she would lay them out so fast they would get whiplash.

Ignoring the dirty, smelly people on the side of the road she kept a steady pace toward the square. The square was a very nice place to be in this town. It had big buildings and it smelt like good food, and had people from the Capitol making their way through. Most of the buildings were colored a baby blue and the others were either yellow or shades of pink. Some might call it a little piece of the Capitol away from home.

Blaze went for a store called Bailey's. They had almost anything you could buy though most people here couldn't afford to buy lots, but if you needed it they had it.

Blaze hurried and got what she needed and went to the check out, where Mills was waiting patiently for a customer.

"Chop, chop, bag boy." Blaze smiled at Mills and he smiled right back.

"I might just kick you out of the store," He started "but I can't kick pretty out." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. Mills was almost eighteen and he'd always had a small crush on Blaze, weather he wanted to admit it or not.

Blaze laughed. "Don't make me get a restraining order." She pointed a skinny finger at him.

Mills shook his light brown curls and gave her a pointed look. "You wouldn't because you'd miss me too much silly girl."

"You wish." She joked. Of course she'd miss his sarcasm and silly jokes.

He scoffed. "Please, Strawberry," He always called her that ever since she met him the first time she came here when she bought strawberries. "You couldn't go a day without seeing me."

Blaze rolled her eyes again. "I said chop chop bag boy!" She clapped her hands and than smiled at him. Mills rang up the last grocery and bagged everything for her. "Thank you." She smiled nicely while handing him the money.

"Don't be a stranger!" He called after her before she walked out the door pretending she didn't hear him. He just smiled.

Now she would be heading home. Back at home Cato had finally finished outside and was leaning against the counter, a glass of water in his hand and still shirtless.

"Awe, did you get dressed up for me?" Blaze joked and watched as his lips curled and he sarcastically laughed. Blaze placed the bag on the counter and tossed him his wallet. "I got chicken for dinner, I hope that's okay."

He nodded. "Yeah," He was never usually a talker. He liked to keep to himself mostly.

"Okay, than." It was a little passed eight O' clock when Blaze started on dinner and than a little past eight thirty when they started eating. After dinner Blaze had gone to bed followed by Cato after he had done the dishes. Both of them knew when they woke up it would just be another day closer to the reaping.


	3. The Breakdown

The reaping was tomorrow. Needless to say the district was in a depressed mode and very few people from the Capitol were wandering around in their colorful outfits. Blaze hadn't talked to Mills since their encounter at the store and didn't plan on it until after the reaping was over. Though she doubted her or Cato or any of her few friends would get drawn from the jar, she still knew there was a possibility and she'd rather not get any closer to them than she was. Of course Cato and her had to communicate, but on a very emotionless and simple level.

A little past six O' clock in the evening Blaze grabbed her bow and sheath of arrows and began to step out the door when Cato's voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?" His voice was soft but deep. Blaze turned to face him holding up her bow and smiling.

"Target practice in the square." She answered. Cato loved listening to her cottony voice, and he was sure he wasn't the only one in Two that liked her voice.

"Oh." He gave a tight-lipped smile and than walked to the cabinets to grab a cup. Blaze watched him the whole way.

"Yeah." She responded. Cato turned to look at her and they just looked at each other. Tomorrow Blaze could possibly lose the one person she'd finally grown to trust since she was 14. He stood there at 6"2', blond hair thrown around but neat, green eyes staring at her, and his mouth slightly opened. If she could choose, she'd volunteer for him, but she couldn't; she was a girl and can only volunteer for a girl.

He watched her black waves swish around her torso from the fan in the kitchen that was pointed in that direction. He knew there as a possibility he was going to lose her; she was his best friend. They were never really close but it was the closest he'd ever gotten to a person since he was 14. He swore he would never let anyone back into his life, but Blaze had gotten farther than he had expected. Right now she was all he had and he wasn't about to lose her.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" He wasn't demanding. She could easily say yes, but something in her wouldn't let her.

"Uh, n-no." She sputtered. "I don't mind." She finally shut the door and walked back into the kitchen. Cato nodded and walked into his room to grab his sword and a few extra knives in case Blaze wanted to practice that too. He grabbed the leather glove that Blaze had given to him last year for Christmas. He kept it under his pillow, it was his favorite thing besides the picture of him and his sister Maz.

At the Square there was a small place that very few people attended that was open for weaponry and target practice and whatever you could think of that could help you survive. It was small though, that's why few attended, with there being hundreds of these places that had even better services that this one. Though Blaze like it. It was small and very few people were ever there unless it was a holiday; than nobody was there. This must have been a holiday. There was one other person there though they were leaving as Cato and Blaze had approached the small building. It was the day before the reaping, so more than likely people were in there houses, privately praying that their family was safe. The only ones out were, Cato, Blaze and those rare people who aren't eligible for the reapings and have no family or a heart.

Blaze shook her head and entered the small building. She always liked the smell of the place. There were plants that lined the walls and they blended their smells together and it reminded her of Five. How many plants grow around there and the numerous flowers her and Dawn would pick when they were little. The fields behind their house and the trees out front; It smelt just like it.

Taking a deep breath she smiled and than pulled an arrow out of her sheath and positioned it in the arrow. She closed her left eye lightly and pointed the arrow slightly above the bulls eye, just enough. She pulled the arrow back and than uncurled her fingers and watched as the arrow stabbed straight though the center.

Cato had always been amazed with her accuracy and how he has yet to see her miss once with a bow and arrow. Even when she was being distracted, it only took her a second to aim and shoot with complete accuracy. He could put a walnut on his head and wait for her to shoot without any worry of her missing. Her knife throwing was just about as accurate. He had seen her miss once when she had been mad and was practicing through anger but that's the only time.

Blaze had shot a few more times before eying Cato's belt of knives and listening to him chuckle. "Here." He handed her two knives, a bowie and a throwing knife. She smiled at him and looked at her target with six arrows sticking out of the target in the same spot. She turned to the one next to it and tossed the throwing knife into the air, jumped catching it mid turn and at her highest point sent the knife straight into the target. She stared at it. She watched the knife fly into it and stick perfectly at least an inch and a half deep in the target.

_If that had been a human_, She thought.

Her breathing picked up slightly. She had done this her whole life, for what? Killing? Or was it pointless? Either way she didn't like it. She was so passionate about something that killed or something with no point. She thought about the reaping tomorrow.

_if I was picked_.. Just that was enough. _Would I do that to someone?_

She could imagine walking through the arena, and seeing a person, and without even thinking, would savagely murder that human being. A human that is someones child, or future parent, or sibling, or niece or nephew, or friend. What if it was someone she knew? Like if her and Cato were both put in the arena. Could she possibly lose herself so much that she would do such a thing to him? Or if someone she knew from Five was in the games? Could she murder a 12 year-old if needed? And if she didn't do all of this, could she possibly survive?

She had no idea she was on her hands and knees holding her chest with her left hand until Cato had his arms around her. She could feel it coming, though that last time she had vomited was when she was 14. She tried holding it in as much as she could, but the more she tried, the harder and more it wanted to come out. It was like a monster was breaking free from her stomach. It was painful but the monster reseeded back into her stomach before coming out. She gasped and choked on air and her own spit while Cato held her to his chest, mostly to keep her from hitting her head on anything. He twisted her hair behind her head and over one of her shoulders when she began to cry. She buried her face in his chest, soaking his shirt. He just rubbed the back of her head.

After an hour of crying she realized she was on Cato's lap on the floor and she stood up. She looked at his shirt and quickly apologized for making it so wet.

"Don't worry," He shook it off. He wanted to ask her why she has broke down so suddenly, but it came to him while they were on the floor. He had done the same thing; bottled his feelings up so much until they all come out at once, and to make matters worse the reaping is tomorrow.

Blaze took a heavy breath. "I don't know what happened." She did, but it wasn't as if she hadn't felt that way before. Why would she react so differently this time?

_I'm Blaze Shadow. I'm 16 now. I have a sister.. Somewhere, but Cato was all I had. _She reminded herself.

Tomorrow was the reaping. She would need every ounce of mental strength she had to make it through the night.


	4. The Reaping

It was the day. The reaping. Blaze sat in her room in front of her mirror a brush in hand but motionless. She didn't know what to o with her hair. It was too long and it she brushed it and left it, it would look like a rats nest. She didn't care too much because there was no joy in dressing up for something so dreary and twisted, but it was mandatory to look nice, and she wasn't a slob. She stared at the pair of scissors and considered cutting her hair but it wasn't easy to grow it out that long and why cut away years of hard work away? So she did a fishtail braid down either side of her head and had them meet together and become one down her back. She put two Sapphire pins where the braids started on her head and let her bangs hand to the side.

Her dress semi formal, but also casual and could be passed off as either one. It was a black strapless bubble skirt dress with a layered bandage effect of blue around it. It was the dress she had worn last year to the reaping.

Blaze put on light makeup unlike most people who showed up with painted skin and wacky colored lipstick. She had eye liner and light blue eye shadow than she had been saving for special occasions like this and holidays that you spent with friends.

After putting Ballet Flats on she was decent. She would never be ready.

"Are you finished?" Cato knocked on her bedroom door and she answered with a faint 'mhmm'. He slowly cracked the door opened and poked his head in before opening the door completely. She stood up, her face asking his approval. He just stared at her, looking her up and down. she felt littler and littler by the second. "You look..." He didn't know what to tell her. Calling her hot probably would have been out of line but that's the only word he could think of. "Hot?" She blushed and laughed despite the situation, making him do the same thing.

He was wearing a pretty nice suit for someone that lives in the districts. It was black and he had a light blue dress shirt on underneath of the jacket with a black tie and black dress shoes. His hair was spiked up neatly and it looked like if she wet to touch it, it would cut her finger because of how sharp it was spiked. He looked pretty handsome.

"You don't look bad yourself." She smiled at him when he tighted the jacket around him in triumph. The smiles didn't last long though, the alarm that warned all of Two to the Square sounded. Blaze gulped and looked at Cato. He was just as scared as she was though only Blaze could see it in his eyes. She reached her hand out and he took it, but pulled her closer and embraced her in a hug. The hug lasted a few seconds but it meant a lot. They were close. So close she could choke from the amount of his cologne she was breathing in. She could feel his strength constrict around her small figure but she loved it. She could stay there forever; in Cato's arms, away from the reaping, people, the Capitol, the killing, everyone. This was all she needed - a friend.

The hug didn't have any romantic feeling to it, though people in Two had expected the two to become more than friends. Blaze had never even really given much thought to being more than friends with Cato, for she still had trust issues and a boyfriend was the last thing on her mind.

When they pulled apart they started out the door, taking small steps and when ever Blaze needed to stop and collect herself, Cato would do the same. By the time they made it to the Square they had to be the last ones. The grass was pushed down and flat from all of the people walking on it to get to their places and gather around the podium. It looked miserable as the grass strained to stand back up and it looked almost as if it was alive when it pulled apart to do so.

The clouds covered most of the sun so it looked dull and lifeless outside; kind of like how Blaze was feeling. The Mocking jays had stop chirping suddenly and flew away. This for some reason had made Blaze even more displeased.

Cato and Blaze made their way to the tables that had rows of people waiting at them. Their hands were still locked together but they had to pull apart to get their blood sampled, but soon after they had each others hands once again.

After about twenty steps away from the table the two were ambushed by peacekeepers. Their white suits blinded Blaze every time she looked at them. This was her nightmare all over again. The peacekeepers tried ripping her hand apart from his but she refused to let go, even though Cato had told her it was okay.

"Dawn!" She yelled when their hands finally broke apart. She realized what she had just said and finally stopped struggling.

"I'll find you after, okay?" Cato called after her. She just nodded over her shoulder and as good as she could over the peacekeepers. She breathed in deeply trying to calm herself after that, and proceeded forward with the peacemakers to the group of 16 year-old girls on the right side of the podium. It was big. The whole stage itself had to be at least 100 feet in width and had a huge marble podium it the middle with papers that no one could see. the background was Grey and made out of bricks that were painted. There was a projection screen on both sides of the stage and one in the middle and huge banners in between them that said 'WELCOME' as if it were a friendly gathering. Like it was a happy thing to be here and that the Games were fun.

The crowd grew silent as Dandil Pockesh's heels clacked across the stage. Dandil was the schedule director this year for District Two. She wasn't Capitol material, or at least she didn't look like it. She had the look, but nowhere near as extreme as the normal person from the Capitol would. She had blue streaks in her blond hair and blue eyeliner that you could clearly see on the big screen. She was wearing a blue dress that was a pencil dress until the very bottom wear it puffed out at her knees. She was different but not too different.

"Good day!" She cheered into the microphone. "Welcome to the ceremony, where we will choose this years lucky contenders to be placed in the 74 annual Hunger Games." Blaze wanted to scoff. Lucky? Her Capitol accent was definitely noticeable when her voice got higher after the end of every word. "But before we do that we have a video sent here from the Capitol." It would be the same video as every other year. About how during the war the Districts has uprisings against the Capitol and in return for their shame they had to offer up a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district. From there the 24 tributes would be put in an arena and forced to fight to the death. If you refused to fight, the Capitol would kill you themselves.

"Ahh.." She gawked. "Such a lovely video." She cheered. "Okay, lets get started shall we?" If it was possible, the crowed got even quieter. Dandil didn't even need to use the microphone it was so quiet. Her heels clicked and clacked along the stage to the two jars that held the names of the two people that will very possibly die. "You know," She started while staring at the two. "I think we need a change of scenery. Let's start with the boys this year." She clacked over to the boy's jar and reached her hand in, swirling her hand around like it was a game of marbles.

Blazes heart started to race. What if it was Cato?

Dandil finally settled on a name and ripped it out of the jar, smiling at the little piece of paper with someones death written on it. She clicked back up to the microphone and tapped it to make sure it still worked and than unfolded the littler piece of paper. Blaze closed her eyes. She said a silent prayer. It wouldn't be Cato.

_Not Cato._

_ Not Cato._

_ Not Cato._

_ Not Cato._

_ Not Cato._

Dandil opened her mouth. She took a deep breath, a breath that would turn into someones fate. A breath that would instantly murder someone. A breath that was just painful to listen to. A breath, that would stay in Blaze's head forever. She will never forget that breath.

"Cato Melbrit!" She cheered. Blaze froze. No emotion. No movement. Not even her eyes would blink. This wasn't right. There is no way that his name was chosen. This was a bad dream! She was still asleep from the night before the Games and when she wakes up they'll go to the reaping and it won't be him. This wasn't real.

When Blaze saw Cato on the stage, she realized.

_This. Is. Real_

There was no words that described how she felt. Every emotion hit her. She was scared, and she would for once admit it to anyone that asked her. She was scared.

Blaze snapped out of her trance when there was a scream from the crow around her, but it took her only seconds to beseech the fact that she was the one that had screamed. She screamed. It was so scary to her that her reign of terror had become audible. She could help but think if it was visible as well.

"Congratulations!" Dandil cheered when Cato had stepped on the stage. He looked at her and their eyes locked. He was scared. Possibly more than Blaze was, she could see it in his eyes. "Say your name." She whispers to him and leans the microphone towards him.

"Cato Melbrit." He says. There was nothing in his voice, just a deep oblivion.

Dandil smiles at him and gives his shoulder a tight squeeze while Cato looked at Blaze. "Next is the Ladies!" She walks over to the jar that has hundreds of names in it and swishes her hand around once again. Blaze hadn't even realized she was about to say the girls name until after she heard the next undesirable breath. "Blaze Shadow!"

There it goes. The last bit of Blaze's sanity.

**I wanted to get this story started with the first four updates, so I didn't care much about reviews. So, reviews please! It would mean a lot to get your feedback(: Can I get at least five reviews before I update again? Thanks for reading.(:**


	5. The Train

Blaze stepped on the stage, her mind felt blank, but she knew her mind was really just trying to figure out what it felt. Was this a good thing that she got picked? Or a bad thing? She would go with the latter decision for now. Blaze felt woozy, in fact if it wasn't for Dandil pulling her up on the stage and holding onto her arm she would have fallen right off. Blaze couldn't look at Cato, though she could feel his eyes burning a whole into the side of her head.

_No sign of weakness_. She thought. Showing a weakness would make her a target, so she stood up straight and looked out into the crowd. Pilot's eyes were fixed on her, so were Maggie's. It was hard to see but a tear pushed its way out of the corner of Maggie's eye and down her cheek, and than fell to the ground. Blaze could hear it. The tear hit so hard and the crowd was so quiet that Maggie's tear almost deafened her.

Blaze was going into the Games, and she knew that, she also knew there was a possibility that she would die, and even if she were to live than that would mean Cato's death. She silently damned the Capitol. None of this was right; murdering children, hurting them, making their families watch it. It was sick.

Cato's eyes were still fixed on Blaze and if it wasn't for Dandil standing in between them. He would have embraced her like he had in the apartment.

"Say your name, sweetheart." Dandil leaned the microphone toward her. It took Blaze a minute to figure out what she had said and to respond.

"Blaze Shadow." She whispered.

"Well," She cheered. "Congratulations to our two tributes for this years Hunger Games!And may the odds be ever in your favor!" She began clapping and only a few in the crowd had followed along. Congratulations, on your death? Blaze was mortified with the few people that could be heard clapping. She wanted to jump off the stage and strangle each of them personally.

They would be going to the Justice Building now. Waiting for anyone who chose to see them. Blaze had a feeling that Pilot and Maggie wouldn't show. She was right. No one came to see her for the good ten minutes she was locked in the cold, dull, lifeless room. It was dark in there. Like those rooms they keep dead bodies in.

_ I might as well be a dead body_, she thought.

A person opened the door, a person she didn't recognize. He was a bald man in a peacekeepers uniform, he was tall and skinny and he looked twisted and mean. He had a pink scar under his eye and that made his pale skin even more pale for some reason. Blaze watched him walk over to her and grab her arm forcing her up. What was he doing? Was he supposed to be there? Was he kidnapping her? Blaze decided not to question him or try and break away; he could easily taze her.

She was dragged from the room and placed on a train, where she could see Cato already sitting in a chair looking out the window. She ran to him almost lifting him out of the seat and he instantly had his arms around her. They stood like that for what seemed like a few minutes but it was almost an hour and the train had already started moving. They would be heading to the Capitol, where they would meet their prep team and stylist and eventually be thrown into an arena to kill each other.

"Hel-" Dandil stopped when she saw Cato and Blaze's embrace. "lo." She finished when they pulled apart to look at her. "I came so we could go over your schedule." She clacked her heels against the train floor over to them and sat in the chair perpendicular to them both. She started with meeting the stylist's and prep teams than moved on to who they would be jumping right into parade for the Capitol with all of the tributes dressed up in something that represented their district. "Oh, where is Holly?" She fussed. Holly was their mentor. She had won the games last year at 15, though she looked as though she could be 18 or 19. "Holly!" Dandil called. She stood up when no one had come and stomped her heels against the metal floor making a loud clacking sound while mumbling to herself.

Blaze looked at Cato. He was staring into space the whole time that Dandil was talking.

"Cato," She whispered trying to get his attention. He didn't move so she knelt on the floor in front of him and took his chin in between her thumb and fore finger and turned his face toward her. "Cato, listen." He finally acknowledged her in front of him and grabbed her chin like she had his.

"B," He called her that sometimes, when they were on a deeper level. "I'm scared." She was the only person he would ever admit that to. If it had been anyone else, he would have acted like he was fearless, but he was different around her.

"I am too." She whispered after moments of silence. Their stare was broken when the door had been slammed open and a girl who both recognized as Holly Brisk stomped in. She obviously didn't want to be there but she put on an obviously fake smile and sat down in the chair that Dandil had once sat down in. Blaze leaned back into her chair across from Cato and looked at Holly. Cato did the same.

She was tall, 5"10' maybe, with blond hair that came to her shoulders and stuck out around her head. She had green eyes just like everyone else that was born in Two and she looked like she was pretty healthy. Not fat and not skinny, but fit.

"Hello," She crossed her legs and rested her hands on her lap. "I'm Holly, your mentor until your probable death." Blaze raised and eyebrow at Holly and she laughed. "Your Blaze right?" Blaze looked a little offended by Holly's tone, and Holly laughed again. "Sorry, I just expected someone ugly." Blaze wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.

"Oh?" Blaze answered.

"Yeah, and you're Cato." She looked at Cato closely and he was obviously uncomfortable. "I'm going to have fun with you." She said sarcastically.

"So you're here to help us." Blaze quickly changed the subject.

"Well, as much as I can." Holly propped her feet up on the arm of the chair and sat sideways. "You two have a good chance of winning being Career's, but keep in mind that there are four other Career's from 1 and 4 besides you two. So it's still a challenge." She went on. "There are people in the Games that you will definitely live longer than, if not kill, and than there are people who have trained for the Games most of their lives. Those are the people you want to team up with."

"What if I want to work alone?" Blaze asked.

"Than you be sure to stay hidden unless you are ready to fight. Allies are one key to winning, so it's good to have them, but not necessary." Holly was speaking from experience; she had only one ally for a few days before he had died from a Career ambush. "We can finish this conversation later, it's lunch time." Holly smiled and stood up and headed to wherever the food was.

**Okay, so I didn't get all the reviews I wanted last time, but I still wanted to keep the story going so this is more of a filler chapter. So review? Thanks(:**


	6. The Stylists

It was dawn, and Blaze and Cato would be arriving in the Capitol within the next hour. They would have been there faster if it wasn't for all of the constant stops, but Blaze could have waited a little longer to get there. She had been up most of the night but finally fell asleep when Dandil had fussed at her about beauty sleep and how she needed to be presentable for tomorrow. She wondered if all the other tribute's schedule directors or mentors yelled at them about sleep.

The night didn't go dreamless for her. She imagined the games. The arena was darker than usual though very little plant life could be found and if you looked out far enough you could see the other tributes. There was no hiding in these Games. Everyone was unsafe.

As Blaze got closer to the other tributes she felt weaker, like gravity got heavier the closer she got and her body began to feel numb. The other 23 tributes, including Cato, watched as she crumbled to the ground and wrapped her arms around her torso, holding herself together. They just watched as she herself couldn't do anything but keep herself from falling apart.

Blaze had been awake for about an hour and when the sun started pouring into the trains window she rolled out of her bed. She threw her hair up and started out of the train cell and out to the dining room for their section of the train. Dandil was already hounding Cato with schedule times and rules, while Holly had her feet propped up on the table munching on a muffin.

"Morning, sunshine!" Holly said as Blaze entered into the room. Everyone was dressed but her, but Blaze could care less about her poor morning attire and sat down next to Cato. She crossed her legs in the chair and reached for a muffin before smiling at Cato and picking pieces off the muffin as she ate. Dandil went on about how bad manners in the Capitol were strongly frowned upon and also about our stylist's names.

"Cato, your stylists name is Blair Tennet." Dandil pointed at Blaze. "And your stylists' name is Cash Bunker. Both are very nice people, both I've met before." She gestured to herself by putting her skinny manicured hand on her chest. "When we get there we will.." Dandil was cut off when Cato reached for Blaze's muffin and she smacked his hand. Though he smiled and reached for it a second time successfully taking a piece and topping it into his mouth.

"There's a whole basket full right there!" Blaze laughed when he did and they both turned back to Dandil who was obviously not happy with the outburst.

"On another note," She glared and went on and Cato and Blaze shared a look, the same look five year-old's share when a teacher yells at them.

When they get to the Capitol they would be pushed right into their prep teams and than be presented to their stylist's who would go over the design for their chariot and costumes for the tributes parade. Blaze wasn't looking forward to playing dress up for the Capitol and than giving them gruesome entertainment in the arena, but what choice did she have?

After the lecture from Dandil The train had stopped one more time before entering the Capitol and Blaze wasted no time jumping off the train in her sleepwear and began walking. She figured some kind of alarm would have gone off or something but when she thought about it, the Capitol was probably already watching her every move, so it didn't matter if she tried to run.

Cato was close behind her stopping her before she got too far. She ended up stopping in front of a lake. A small lake, though it was hypnotizing; the lily pads floated around without any guidance and the little animals in the lake splashed around and crawled from lily to lily trying to find a home. Blaze was jealous. She had almost forgotten what her home even looked like. The only thing she remembered was the chipping white paint on the outside of the house and the broken window that her and Dawn broke during target practice when they were seven. Twiddle had chewed them out for it; they couldn't afford to get it fixed so they put a piece of plastic over the whole.

Cato rested his hand on her shoulder and watched the lake with her, though he didn't realize why she was staring so hard at it.

"Look at that frog." Blaze pointed to one that was fairly close to their bare feet. "He has a home, and a family, and he's probably very happy with his life." The frog jumped back into the water and paddled away and Blaze watched it until it was out of site.

"You miss 5, don't you." It wasn't a question. Anyone could tell that Blaze had missed 5 since the day she was taken from it.

Blaze nodded. "I like 2, but 5 is my home." Blaze finally turned to Cato and looked at him. "You never told me what happened." Cato cocked an eyebrow at her. "To your family." She whispered but no longer looked him in the eyes.

Cato took a deep breath about to start when Dandil had yelled for them from the train.

They could just barely see the Capitol and all of its golden glory as the train approached. The pictures and people from the Capitol didn't lie; it was so glamorous and big that Blaze was surprised she wasn't blinded just by looking at it. Though she felt a sense of relief that she would be getting off the train, Blaze knew it was only one step closer to hers or Cato's grave. Just the thought had her in panic mode, though this time she was able to obtain it as the train slowed.

They were in the Capitol and people for miles lined the side of the tracks waving and cheering at the tributes. Security guards had to hold some people back from getting their toes and feet crushed for getting to close to the train. It was chaos and it sickened Blaze.

Why were all these people so excited for their death? Why would they be cheering when 23 people would be killed and put who knows where? Blaze glared at the windows as Cato stood along with Holly and Dandil and waved at the people.

"Get up here." Dandil commanded and turned back to the window. "What will they think if only one tribute is looking out for District Two?" She waved to the people some more and Blaze just cocked an eyebrow at her and rolled her eyes. There was no way she was waving to a bunch of mindless Capitol citizens, cheering on her death.

When the train came to a complete stop the tributes were brought off the train one by one and put into the hands of their prep teams.

Blaze was pushed into a room with very little features; four white walls and a table where she would probably be lying for the team to probe her. There were four people in the room, a tall skinny woman that looked like her skin had a pink tint to it was the first person that caught Blaze's attention. She stepped forward.

"My name is Gattel." She smiled and held out her hand. Blaze shook it lightly and watched as the other three looked Blaze up and down with disapproval, one shaking his head.

"Oh, dear!" He cried. "Her eyebrows are horrifying." He grabbed her face and ran his thumb over her right eyebrow. She didn't really think they were that bad. Where they? "We have a lot of work to do." He sighed and gestured for her to get on the table. Blaze cautiously obliged.


	7. The Chariot

When the prep team was finished ripping, plucking, shaving, and razoring the hair off of her body, buffing her nails, and brushing the hair on her head she was thrown into another room. She had figured out the names of her prep team. The man that had a heart attack over her eyebrows was named Bronco, he was short but fit and had the darkest skin she had ever seen. The other two in the room besides him and Gattle were twin sisters named Gia and Genavi. Both of them were Blaze's height, though they were very pale girls and had shady brown hair. They they had been a few shades darker they would have looked like someone Blaze remembered from five; Dawn.

Blaze was put into a different room that looked very similar to the other room she was just in, only bigger. It was extremely bright and she was thankful when the lights were dimmed slightly before her stylist came into the room. It wasn't awkward. She was only naked and standing in the middle of the room while a grown man sized her up. He wasn't intimidating and didn't even have an uneasy feeling about him.

Blaze swallowed. "You're Cash." He stopped and looked her in the eyes.

"Did I tell you to talk?" He demanded. Blaze's eyes widened at his serious expression, and she became thoroughly confused when he smiled and started laughing. "I'm joking." She awkwardly chuckled along with him and let out a heavy breath. Cash was maybe 6'5" and very skinny with tan skin and hair that was grown to his shoulders. He was dressed in settle Capitol attire; a dress shirt and black slacks with a gold pattern on them. He had no makeup on like most of the other men in the Capitol, and this relaxed Blaze a little more. "You're very beautiful." He complimented when he stopped in front of her.

Blaze had only had three people tell her that; Dawn, Cato and Thor. Thor was a previous boyfriend she had in Five before she was taken away and shipped to two. At fourteen it was the closest she would ever get to love, though now, she wouldn't know what she would think if she were to ever see him again. It was nice to hear she was beautiful from someone she didn't expect it to come from.

"Thank you." She smiled lightly at him. He nodded and gestured for her to sit down on the cot across the room that sat against the wall. "So what's the plan?" She meant for it to come out a little more exciting, but it was almost impossible for her to be excited about anything right now.

Aware of her effort Cash chuckled and sat down in a chair in front of her. "I wanted to talk to you about that." He started. "I have suggestions in case you get stuck, but you're the one who lives in Two, no one knows it better than you do. So what do you think you're chariot and costume should look like?"

"Um," She started. "Well, we do a lot of stone work." She went on. "And heavy lifting." Cash nodded and Blaze breathed out. "Rocks?"

Cash laughed and put his hand on Blaze's knee. "Think of something original."

Blaze looked at his hand and breathed in. "Originality isn't exactly on my mind right now." She shook her head.

Cash moved his head in front of her line of sight. "Listen." He started. "This parade is very important, not just to the Capitol, but for your survival. I know it's very superficial and shallow but the prettier, more original, and neck breaking you look is a huge step in snatching sponsors." She looked him in the eyes. He was right, usually the chariot's that looked more flashy and glamorous where the ones that had more parachutes during the Games. "Now, close your eyes." She closed her eyes. "Empty your mind, no matter how hard it is to do so." She attempted several times before finally emptying her mind. "Think of District Two, and what would represent them very well. Think original and outside the box."

Blaze took a few minutes with her mind empty. It was the first time she had peace with herself since she was 14 years-old. When she decided to think, so many thoughts went through her head when she finally came up with something that bonded all of them together. Almost literally.

"What if, we were bonded together. People in two are usually close and it's hard to find people that don't know each other, and since we work with stones, what if we were cemented together?" Cash thought about it.

"Blair and I could cement your hands together, and place you on a mountain in your chariot. You'd be the biggest chariot and it would be impossible to miss you two." Blaze smiled at Cash and nodded. It was the first genuine smile she gave to anyone, besides Cato, in a long time.

...***...

After a talk with their stylists both Cato and Blaze were dressed in Capitol attire and sent out of their rooms and reunited with their district escort and mentor. They would be waiting until 3:00pm when they would be putting their costumes on after their finishing touches were added to the already pre-made ones.

Blaze, right now, wore casual Capitol clothes; a pink dress that came a little above her knees and hung freely around her. Her hair was tied in a bun on the top of her head with a braid wrapped around it. Cato was wearing a light pink dress shirt and Grey slacks that had a pink design of wind on them, and his hair was combed and was neatly pushed to the side. Cato grabbed Blaze's hand first thing and pulled her toward him so his mouth was right next to her ear.

"Do I look fruity?" He demanded. Blaze covered her mouth with laughter and held up her hand with her thumb and fore finger pulled apart, a small space separating them. "I knew it." He barked pulling back but keeping his hand in hers while she giggled. Dandil lead them into what looked like a mess hall and pointed for them to sit down at the table in the middle of the room. The table was huge and it held more food than either of them have seen in their lives. It was covered with seafood, meats, cheeses, breads, vegetables, fruits, and deserts that they have never seen before.

"Go on." Dandil waved them toward the food and began to walk out of the room.

"Is it just me or, was that weird?" Blaze turned toward the table slowly looking around at the empty room. They were the only two with a whole table full of food to feed all of District Two and Dandil hadn't even batted an eye at it before she left.

"Yeah, it was weird." Cato agreed. "But don't question it, embrace it." He reached for the bread and began making a concoction of a sandwich than Blaze couldn't even imagine stomaching.

"You're so weird."

At 3:00 the two were gathered from there room of food and pushed into a room with both stylists. They were dressed for the parade and put backstage. Their original costumes looked like they were covered in rock and clay dust; not one inch of their skin could be seen. When they were backstage Cash had run up with the last touches ready. He placed a concrete sleeve over Blaze's left arm and than over Cato's right. The sleeve went on until the middle of their chests' and Blaze had wondered how they knew the sizes of their arms.

"A stylist has many talents." Cash winked at her and she chuckled shaking her head. "Good luck." He kissed Blaze's head and stepped back next to Blair who had her arms folded over her stomach.

Blaze and Cato were helped up on their chariot. When Cash said it would be like a mountain, he didn't lie. The chariot had a huge rock carved to look like a mountain in it and stairs carved into the back to make it easier for them to get up. There had to at least be twenty stairs. When they were at the top there were places for both of them to put their feet and a bar sticking up from each side of the front of the chariot for their free hand to hold so they didn't fall off.

Blaze took a deep breath when Cesare Flickerman's booming voice announced the order of the chariots, not like they've changed over the past 74 years. Before she knew it, their chariot jerked forward and not only did her and Cato jump but, Dandil, Holly, Blair, and Cash all leaned forward ready for them to fall. When they didn't all four of them leaned back more relaxed and watched as the chariots moved forward and disappeared out into the crowd.

People were cheering for District Two's chariot the first half of the parade and when they had stopped at the front of the podium that President Snow sat behind people moved on to the other chariots. Cesare Flickerman gawked at the boldness of the Two chariot and commented on its height and the bravery of the two young tributes for begin able to stand on something that high. If they fell, they would probably die, not like they weren't already dead.

Blaze refused to look around at the other tributes below her, she'd either have to kill them or watch them be killed. It wasn't worth looking at them now. So she stood straight and focused on not passing out while Snow talked.

Snow reminded all the tributes as to why they were here. During his speech Blaze felt Cato's hand moving around in the cast and suddenly felt his hand turn and lock his fingers with hers. She looked at him and smiled. She couldn't help but note that her hand was probably just as sweaty as his, from being nervous and the cast had no air wholes


	8. The Kiss

When the parade was over and the chariots were pulled backstage again Blaze was the first one to rip her arm out of the sleeve and take off down the stairs and out of the room. She spared no looks at anyone, though Cato yelled her name, she still didn't look back. As she walked away she brushed her arms and legs free of the dust and than her face though barely any of it came off. In the hallway to the elevator Blaze fell on the floor and hugged her knees to her chest and leaned against the wall. She didn't cry, anxiety and paranoia began to overcome her and when she saw Cato running toward her she began to calm down again. He was still covered in dust and the light clothing they were put in when he leaned down to her level.

"Are you okay?" He breathed. Blaze nodded. "You ran out of there like your ass was on fire." He wiped some of the dust off of her face with his thumb.

"I was just scared." Cato sighed and grunted dramatically and sat down next to her on the floor. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Hi." He made a crooked smile and showed his teeth, causing Blaze to laugh and push his shoulder. "Listen Blaze," He tilted her chin to look at him. "I think everyone is scared. The odds of them surviving are slim, but I think you should be the least scared." He admitted.

"Why is that?"

"You're a genius with weapons, and you're definitely know how to survive off of the land." Cato knew if anyone would win these Games, it would be Blaze. Though she thought differently.

"So are you Cato." She whispered. She looked back down at her lap and Cato stood up. He put his hand out for her to grab and she willingly took it.

...***...

"What was that?" Dandil demanded. "You ran out of the room without permission, I have half a mind to -" Dandil was cut off by Holly.

"Relax," She started. "It wasn't like she punched Snow in the face, than we'd have a problem on our hands." She gave Blaze a crooked smile and watched as Dandil plumped on the couch, her eyebrows so close to touching each other. "Don't get pouty." Dandil rolled her eyes.

"We have training next." Dandil growled.

"Oh yeah!" Holly upraised. Cato and Blaze looked at Holly as Dandil got up to leave. "Now in training, don't go for what you're good at, save that for judging. Go for something you need to work on, like plant life, or heavy lifting, or hell even hiding and disguises. If you do go for something you're good at, don't do it for too long. Just long enough to show them you're not their breakfast in the Games." It was obvious that they shouldn't go for their strengths, or the others would see them as a threat and target them first. "Blaze," Blaze tensed up. "Use the knives... Don't touch the bows. You're too good and they will come after you first if you're that good at two things." Blaze nodded in understanding and Holly nodded back.

Tomorrow they would be put into training.

It was around 7:00am when they were woken up by Dandil banging on both of their room doors. Blaze mentally cursed Dandil for waking her from the first real sleep she had gotten in the past few days. Blaze rolled off of her bed and once again didn't care about her poor morning clothes and walked out into the dinning room. Cato for once walked out in his boxers and undershirt and bedhead. Blaze liked it since it made the environment more like it was at home. She smiled and went to go sit next to him. He smiled at her tiredly and grabbed a biscuit and than the jam. Dandil was busy writing stuff down and talking to herself to notice the two and than Holly was too preoccupied with her food.

"Are you ready for today?" Blaze asked Cato. He finished chewing and swallowing before he answered.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Are you?"

Blaze took a breath. "I don't know." Cato rubbed her back with his hand and continued eating. Blaze could barely even hold down the roll she was picking apart, let alone eat like Cato was. She didn't blame him though, he was big and if he didn't eat at least three meals a day he'd probably pass out. She mentally laughed at the thought of Cato missing one meal and than begging for food. Though they had both missed meals before, he missed the least amount. Whenever they didn't have enough money to get food or didn't bring home any game Cato would insist she eat whatever they had left, though she refused saying she wasn't hungry. Eventually he would eat.

All the thought about food had Blaze feeling uneasy. She placed the roll back on the table and quickly stood up and ran toward the bathroom. Cato wasn't far behind her when she fell to her knees in front of the toilet. She could feel the vomit pulsing up from her stomach and finally felt it pour out of her mouth. Cato grabbed her hair as fast as he could and knelt down beside her and rubbed her back until she was done. It wasn't much, only the half of a roll she had just eaten and the small dinner from last night mixed with stomach acid. Her throat burned though and even though there wasn't anything left in her stomach to throw up she was still gagging on air.

When she finally calmed down Cato was behind her and she leaned back against him holding her stomach. He wiped the hair back from her forehead and looked down at her. She looked so weak to him right now, so fragile and vulnerable. He helped her stand up when she was ready and he left the bathroom so she could brush her teeth than rise and repeat.

When she emerged from the bathroom Holly and Dandil were talking in the living room and Cato was waiting at the table.

"I'm okay." She whispered to him but covered her mouth in case her breath still smelt like vomit. He chuckled at her action.

"Hun, that mouthwash is more powerful than acid. Your breath smells fine." Dandil picked her head up and said from the living room. Blaze blushed slightly and removed her hand from her face. Dandil stood up and walked over to them and forced them up. "Go get dressed. We have a big day today."

_When was it not a big day to you?_ Blaze thought.

Most of the districts were already in the training center throwing knives and shooting things, for Cato and Blaze were late do to lack of speed dressing, which Dandil was furious about. Cato and Blaze stood outside of the center mentally preparing themselves and thinking of what they would be practicing.

"So, we'll be working on mostly, plants and than toward the end we'll mess around with the knives and swords okay?" Blaze took a deep breath, and Cato nodded in agreement.

"Why are you so nervous? It's only training." Cato tried to be comforting by rubbing her shoulder.

"I'm not nervous." Blaze scolded putting her hand on her hip. Cato gave her a knowing look, lifting and eyebrow at her. He knew her better than she knew herself. "Okay, I am a little. But only because I'm worried of what I'll see." Cato tilted her chin upward to look at him. He didn't look like he was going to say anything to her. Gravity acted upon his head and he was getting closer. Blaze almost objected but swallowed her words when his nose touched hers. His hand moved from her jaw to the back of her neck and pulled her head closer. Their lips brushed against each other and Blaze gasped. It scared her; the small shock that occurred when their lips met, though she liked it and wanted it to happen again. She raised up on her tip toes and parted her lips, just as Cato did and closed her mouth around his bottom lip.

It wasn't a tiny shock this time, it was a constant on going flow of electricity that was flowing through the kiss. His mouth tasted like the strawberry jam he had that morning and hers tasted like the mouth wash. They broke away for only a second just to drag themselves back in. Blaze felt his tongue along her bottom lip this time and opened her mouth, feeling his tongue push its way in to make hers surrender.

Blaze pulled away slowly, and Cato brushed his lips against hers one last time before he fully pulled away.

_Oh, what the hell?_


	9. Training Center

The training center was huge. There had to be at least a hundred feet of knives that lined the walls. Plus another hundred feet of swords and bows. It was so tempting for Blaze to run to a bow, but Holly had specifically told her not to run to the bows at this time, so she resisted. There had to be twenty different rooms in the training center all different things to train for.

Cato started toward the plants and animal life section and began going through the different pictures and identities. Blaze stood next to him and looked through a plant log on the computer and began playing a game.

_ I guess they didn't want it to be completely miserable._ She thought as she began matching the plants with their names. She got 15 out of 20 and started over. The second time was more successful when she got 20 out of 20 and moved on to level two. Cato wasn't having as much luck and began to get frustrated with the computer. Blaze quickly turned to him before he broke the computer itself.

"Relax." She breathed and touched his arm. He instantly felt a change of emotion and calmed. Blaze turned away from him when something caught her attention. The pair from One were watching them and chuckling from their stand point. "Cato." She whispered and he looked at her. "Go grab a sword."

He borrowed his eyebrows. "Holly told us to hold off on our strengths as much as we can."

"I don't care." She jumped right after his sentence. "They're looking at you like you're a big piece of meat. Go get a sword. I'll recognize the plants." He slowly nodded at her and pulled away from the computer. Blaze finished as many levels as the game would allow and than began on animals when she listened next door to the swords. She could hear Cato. His moves were so distinct and perfect and she could tell them apart from all the other swipes from swords. She could tell every time he moved; he would make a small grunting sound and than the sword would make its loud slicing sound through the dummies. She had listened to him so many times back in two than she could even tell where he hit the dummy.

Blaze continued with the animals, softly cursing when she matched the wrong animal. This was definitely tougher than the plants, because of all the hybrid animals the Capitol had concocted. Though she eventually proved to be smarter than she thought when she finally matched them all. Blaze breathed a sigh of relief and just after that she hurt Cato's loud yelling.

"He took my knife!" He yelled. "Where did you put my knife? Huh?" Blaze left the computer as fast as she could and was soon in the room where she heard his voice.

"Cato!" She yelled when he was grabbed by peacekeepers. Those men weren't very fond of her loved ones and whenever she sees them touching someone she was close to, her memories flood back. She was there in a second in front of him and grabbing the peacekeepers hands and ripping them away. "He's fine, leave him alone." Tears flowed down her cheeks without permission and the peacekeepers let Cato go slowly, for he seemed calm enough. As soon as he could he had Blaze wrapped up in his arms and everyone in that room that could hear the two was watching the touching display, not knowing what to think of it.

Blaze calmed down as soon as Cato was freed and took a deep breath wiping her face free of any tears that fell. "I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear.

"Don't do that to me again." She whispered back. He knew about her experience with the goons that everyone else called peacekeepers, and he was truly sorry for causing the memories to be brought back.

"I won't." He pulled her at arms length and scanned her face.

"I'm fine." She assured him. "Really." He nodded and glared at the boy who took the knife. He walked to the wall full of knives and picked a new one and began mutilating dummies again. Blaze watched him closely. He was always like this when he had a knife or a sword; perfect. He was so graceful and never missed a hit, and now the tributes from One no longer looked at him like he was an idiot. They could do that later when he went back to plants.

The kiss. She knew she shouldn't be thinking of something so shallow at the moment and she should be focused on surviving. But there was no way she could focus on anything until she got to the bottom of that kiss. Was it just a stupid pity kiss because she told him she was nervous? Did he mean it? If he did mean it, than how long did he feel this way? Was it only for him? Was he nervous too and he did something foolish to calm himself? They were all possibilities, though Blaze wanted to believe it was because he had feelings for her, she couldn't. If she believed such a selfish thing than there was no way she would be able to go into that arena with him. She wanted to dismiss it as a selfish act on his part because he was nervous too, but as she watched him throw that knife into the target with such confidence she knew he wasn't nervous about training.

She sighed as he waltzed back over to her, his face sweaty and red and his blond hair plastered to his head with sweat. Blaze quickly looked around the room. Though she knew the Capitol was watching their every move, none of the tributes were in the knife room anymore. Blaze leaned up and kissed Cato quickly grabbing his sweaty face. It wasn't as good as the first time, for it was quickly and rushed and he had sweat on his lips but the shock was still there.

She pulled away and he smiled down at her. "What was that for?"

She thought of a response. "I- I don't know." She swallowed. "What was the kiss in the hall for?" She asked.

Cato stared at her. He wasn't sure how to respond so he got defensive. "What do you think?" He snapped. She was surprised by his sudden change of mood and stepped back.

"I'm sorry." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. He blew the breath out of his lungs and turned off to the plants again. They only had a half hour left and than they would be gathered up once again.

Blaze, being outraged with herself, picked up a knife that was lying on a table in the middle of the room and threw it at the dummy that had a target on it's stomach. All of the dummies had targets in different places; stomach, chest, neck, forehead, heart. Blaze hit everyone of them perfectly. Soon enough she gathered a small audience. Completely unaware of the three people that were gathered behind her, she threw the knife in the air, jumping to grab it mid turn and sent the piece of metal straight into the dummy's heart.

She was so heated when she walked out and hadn't noticed the person walking into the room and bumped right into them.

"Watch it!" Blaze yelled.

"Blaze?"

Blaze looked right into the face of her twin sister.

"Dawn."


End file.
